Detroit Motor Show 2015: Ford GT
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Ford has surprised everyone by showing off an all-new Ford GT at this year’s Detroit Motor Show, with wild looks and a powertrain that’s sure to cause controversy.

The first thing that simply has to be discussed about this new GT though, are the looks. Ford has kept some key GT/GT40 design cues, but this new model is about as modern as car designs get. Heavily influenced by aerodynamic performance, much more so than even a McLaren P1, the new GT is a riot of intakes, swoops, floating panels and vents resulting in a fantastic looking car guaranteed to turn heads even in the most hypercar-infested locations like Kensington, Dubai and Monaco.

There’s a recognisably GT40-esque front end, with a matte carbon splitter and floating canards at the sides, with two vents for the radiators cut out of the bonnet. These are flanked by some incredibly complex looking headlights, while above sits a wraparound screen, much like the original. It’s from that point that things get less 1965 and more 2015 though.

The cockpit wraps around the driver and passenger then back to the engine bay, with the bodywork extending out over the rear wheels, creating an aerodynamic tunnel down the side of the car complete with aero blades to direct airflow. At the rear there sits the exit areas for this air beneath a large movable rear wing. Inside the rear light ‘rings’ are vents for the intercoolers, another neat touch. Inside it’s simple yet effective, with a Ferrari-style steering wheel housing all the major controls, a screen ahead of the driver and one in the central dash.

The powertrain is certain to cause a lot of discussion though. Most would expect a V8 or V12 in a car that looks like this, but Ford is going with a twin turbo 3.5 litre EcoBoost V6, producing over 600 bhp going through a seven speed dual clutch gearbox to the rear wheels. The reasons behind the engine choice are mainly down to packaging – the EcoBoost engine is lighter than a V8 and when combined with the all carbon body gives a low kerb weight of around 1250 kg so performance should be incredible. Another rumoured reason is that the GTE class of Le Mans racing requires turbo cars to be of 4.0 litres or less – we’d bet on this going racing in the next couple of years.

This is technically a concept, so things like the door mirrors are going to change for production, but this is pretty much the car that goes on sale in the middle of 2016 for around £150,000.